Man, 20, is city's 60th homicide

Monday

Oct 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 27, 2012 at 5:03 PM

STOCKTON - A gunbattle Saturday night that killed a man at a party on Fox Creek Drive also sent bullets flying through the neighborhood to wound a 9-year-old boy and his uncle, who had no connection to the party.

Dana M. Nichols

STOCKTON - A gunbattle Saturday night that killed a man at a party on Fox Creek Drive also sent bullets flying through the neighborhood to wound a 9-year-old boy and his uncle, who had no connection to the party.

Stockton police Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the department, said officers were dispatched just before 10:30 p.m. to the 9400 block of Fox Creek Drive not far from Morada Lane.

The initial caller reported that one person had been shot, but a short time later another caller reported several other victims.

Police arrived to find a critically wounded 20-year-old who had been shot outside a duplex on the west side of the street. He was transported to a hospital where he died.

It was Stockton's 60th homicide of the year. There were 58 in 2011.

The other gunfire victims Saturday night were a 22-year-old man and his nephew, who were hit by bullets while the uncle attempted to pick up the boy and several other children from a home on the east side of the street.

"That is totally an innocent family that was unrelated to the homicide," Silva said.

"They ended up in the middle of a gunbattle," Silva said. "Their car was hit multiple times with bullets striking the driver ... and his 9-year-old nephew."

The man and his nephew were taken to a hospital where they were in stable condition, Silva said.

Silva said that in addition to his nephew, the man's car also carried several of his own children ages 5 years, 4 years and 5 months.

Those children were uninjured.

Silva said the wounded man had the presence of mind to drive his car away from the gun battle, and he stopped around a nearby corner on Chelmsford Way to dial 911.

Detectives worked through the night gathering evidence of the gun battle at the duplex, finishing their work about 1:20 p.m. Sunday.

No one answered a knock at the front door Sunday afternoon.

Adhesive arrows pointed to a half dozen places that appeared to have had bullet damage, including chipped stucco next to the front door, holes in a fence and several gouges of wood removed from the door frame.

A pastel-colored felt decoration on the front door said "Baby."

A neighbor a few doors down from the home where the shooting happened said new occupants had moved in recently and they did not show any evidence of being employed.

"They party most of the time, four or five times a week. Use poor language," said neighbor Thomas Tran, 73.

Tran said he saw a party start at the nearby duplex about 5 p.m. Saturday, but that he was asleep when the shooting happened.

Silva said the gunbattle does not appear to be gang related.

He also said it appears that the same people who fatally shot the 20-year-old man were also responsible for the bullets that hit the 22-year-old and his nephew.

He said it is not yet clear how the gun battle unfolded or why bullets ended up striking a man who was picking up children on the east side of the street.

Silva said the names of the dead and wounded were not yet available for release Sunday.